Rumors have been circulating all year that the famous warhorse-turned-sail-training-vessel Alaska Eagle may be sold after completing her current schedule. We certainly understand the reasons why — namely that it takes a whole lot of man hours and cash to keep her in top shape. Still, the retirement of this aluminum S&S 65 from the realm of sail training would be a real shame. Since '82 her instructional offshore trips for Orange Coast College's School of Sailing and Seamanship have upgraded the skills and bolstered the confidence of hundreds of sailors, many of whom went on to cruise and cross oceans successfully on their own.

As sad as Eagle's rumored retirement may be, though, she's not done quite yet. In fact, there is currently plenty of room on an epic ocean crossing this summer: the return trip from Hawaii to San Francisco, right after the TransPac (in which the Eagle will serve as a communications boat).

The dates are July 22 to August 9, and the route is expected to hold a little bit of everything. "It will start in the tropics and end under the Golden Gate," explains longtime co-captain Sheri Crowe. "There will be lots of variety in the weather; a few days beating, then into the Pacific High and some reaching. It would be a great first passage for those wanting to go to sea." We couldn't agree more. So if this sounds like the sort of challenging opportunity you've been looking for, we'd urge you to waste no time in applying. We're tempted to do so ourselves!

- latitude / at

Cost of Cruising - First Responders

May 25, 2011
– The World of Cruising

In May 20's 'Lectronic, we reported that Allen and Kate Barry, who have been cruising their San Francisco-based DownEast 38 Mendocino Queen all over the world for most of the last 18 years, are currently retired and cruising comfortably on just $1,500 a month in the Caribbean.

So we asked other cruisers how much money they need to live on. We haven't received a ton of responses, but the ones we've gotten have been illuminating. For example, there is a family of four who cruised Mexico on their 36-ft boat for about $1,900 a month — or just a little more than what the U.S. government considers the poverty level for a family of four in the United States. Then the family moved up to a 50-ft boat. You might think the bigger boat would entail bigger expenses. To a certain extent that might have been the case, but it was overwhelmingly offset by the fact that the family have become much wiser about what is really needed to cruise "comfortably" in Mexico, and what is excess. The bottom line was that after the first year their monthly expenses dropped to about $1,100 a month — or not much more than the federal poverty level.

Many of you will assume that the family has either forgotten certain expenses or left out major expenses such as for haulouts and boat parts. No, no, and no. All these things are included and recorded in excruciating detail. In fact, we'll be publishing them in the July issue of Latitude.

One of the more interesting responses came from a singlehander in the Sea of Cortez. He decided that since since the minimum wage in Mexico is $175 USD a month, and that in many cases a husband and wife have to raise a family on their combined income of $350 USD a month, he ought to be able to cruise — boat expenses included — on the same amount. In order to strengthen his resolve, he decided that he would just take $350 out of the ATM at the beginning of each month, and not take any more out until the beginning of next month. As time has passed, he's found that he can indeed live on just $350 a month.

We'll have more on the budgets of these cruisers in the June and July issues of Latitude.

But we'd also be interested in hearing from full-time cruisers who aren't quite as budget conscious, and who might keep their boats in marinas part or all of the time, and who like to eat in more high end restaurants. We'd also like to hear from 'commuter cruisers' who, generally speaking, have more money than time at their disposal.

- latitude / rs

Ad: Captain Kirk's San Francisco Sailing

Baja Ha-Ha Graphic Arts Contest

May 25, 2011
– Baja Ha-Ha World Headquarters

About five years ago, the Grand Poobah decided it was high time that there be new graphics on the Baja Ha-Ha and Some Like It Hot T-shirts. As the wheels of progress grind slowly at the Ha-Ha World Headquarters, we're just getting around to implementing that change.

The folks who do all the T-shirts have graphic designers who can come up with artwork, but we thought it would be fun to see if any Ha-Ha folks or Latitude readers would like to try submitting artwork.

In the case of the Ha-Ha T-shirt, we're kind of partial to a simple, stylized look, such as you'd find on old fruit crates or vintage posters. But we're open minded, so let your creative thoughts run wild.

In the case of the Some Like It Hot T-shirt, we still like the general concept of a chili pepper of some sort on the back, around which the names of all the entries can flow. But again, feel free to let fly with whatever crosses your mind. If you have more than one idea, don't be shy. Send your submissions to Richard.